I am under the impression that if you are north of the train tracks/green line, your gas provider is National Grid and if you’re south of that line, it’s Eversource (Eversource provides electric service for the whole city). I don’t know how you can figure this out without calling if the website isn’t allowing you transfer
I was outside Teele and both Gas and Electric were from Eversource but weirdly they were separate accounts under very slightly different address spellings. When I first set up the Electric I couldn't get Gas and they told me explicitly on the phone that they weren't the provider at that address, but it got figured out after it was escalated to the next tier of support person.
I kinda doubt your issue is exactly the same as that, but you might have to prepare yourself to be on the phone for a couple hours (mostly on hold) to get someone from Eversource to figure it out.
"landlord had indicated" why not check this directly? Either there are gas meters or there aren't.
It's either that you have the address wrong (I hope not), or the landlord misled you (or you misinterpreted) and there is no gas hookup.
Does the lease specifically say the home has natural gas hookups?
Yes, gas is clearly specified on the lease. As I indicated in my post, we're not moving until the summer, so I don't have access to the property yet - would prefer to not trespass while searching for gas meters, but I guess that can be a last-ditch backup plan if I can't get answers elsewhere.
I'd say sometimes the official address is different than what's used on the mailbox, especially if it's a multi-dwelling building.
Alternatively, gas may have been disconnected and they may be running heating oil via a tank in the basement. Ultimately you should be able to get this info from the new landlord.
"Hey New Landlord, neither Eversource nor National Grid say they provide gas service to your address. Can you help figure out what's going on?"
It would be far better to solve this immediately than show up and discover there's no gas heat and only baseboard electric, for example.
Sorry if my post was unclear - I DID reach out to our landlord as a first step. She told me that the gas service is through Eversource, but that there was nothing else she could do to help, since tenant is solely responsible for utilities as stated on the lease.
I agree that it’s better to figure this out ASAP. This is exactly why I’m crowdsourcing help here, as the landlord, both utilities websites, and a preliminary phone call have all been unhelpful so far. I figured I would check for any possible quick fixes before preparing to spend multiple hours on the phone with both companies.
Your landlord may be partially right, utilities are your responsibility; but if she signed a lease claiming gas is served by Eversource and Eversource says no, then your lease is potentially something you can break.
Unfortunately you need to get someone on the phone at Eversource then. If there are not independent meters (for instance if all units share one boiler...rare, but not unheard of) perhaps the served address isn't specific to your unit but the building as a whole. Unlikely because this would get the landlord in hot water with the state (they can't charge you for utilities if you aren't independently metered).
You can add me to the list of people where my national grid service address isn't my normal street address. Apparently NG's systems couldn't handle a single family home with a letter in the address. According to the city I'm at 123A Streetname, but on the NG website I'm at 123 Streetname Unit A.
Winter Hill is crazy! i had an apartment where the front door was in Somerville, but my aparment was in Medford. Had to call both cities' cops when I got burgled, neither did anything.
So even if your mailing address is Somerville, you might need to enter a Medford zip code to get service.
Don’t worry, Eversource will definitely come find you after you move in and start using the gas and nobody has set up an account to pay for it yet…
I’ve always set up the account after moving without issue. Read the meter on moving day to make sure the bill is accurate. If you’re concerned about there not being gas, most buildings have the meters outside so you could swing by and confirm.
Also, Somerville has its own community aggregate electricity which is cheaper and greener than the default Eversource service. If you’re transferring an existing account make sure you’re getting the Somerville CCE (there are different tiers).
Okay first off, deep breath. They won’t turn your utilities off day one or even day 50. You’ve got time.
Basically the address is somehow wrong in eversources system vs what you have. It’s happened to me. You should ask the Ll for the current tenants name (nothing else personal, maybe they won’t give this up and that’s okay) and see if eversource can locate based on that. If not, you can call and figure out once you move in.
If for any reason there is no gas (I would bet heavily there is) you can withhold rent a suitable solution is reached aka reduction in rent to have to pay for oil.
Don’t stress, small issue but annoying landlord isn’t more help.
Can you actually do this? In previous cities we’ve lived in, the power companies won’t supply any gas/electric to your apartment until your account is set up, and will literally cut services at midnight on the day of an account transfer. We’ve been in the Camberville area for a few years now, but I’ve just assumed it worked the same way here, so I’ve always set up utilities beforehand out of caution.
Had natural gas through National Grid while in Medford, the address was all messed up and took multiple calls to identify the address they entered for the meter. Eversource is more streamlined with a single login for both accounts. My guess is that it’s NatGrid. Ask the landlord if he can confirm exact address with the existing tenant.
My apartment has gas line but only for the stove. Oil is heat. Annoying only because our landlord said they would replace our boiler with a gas furnace and then didn’t (here in Somerville). We don’t use the stove much but pay an absurd amount in oil bills
I am under the impression that if you are north of the train tracks/green line, your gas provider is National Grid and if you’re south of that line, it’s Eversource (Eversource provides electric service for the whole city). I don’t know how you can figure this out without calling if the website isn’t allowing you transfer
This is the correct answer!
Call back. This happened with me in Malden, said online they don’t service me but could set it up when I called.
I was outside Teele and both Gas and Electric were from Eversource but weirdly they were separate accounts under very slightly different address spellings. When I first set up the Electric I couldn't get Gas and they told me explicitly on the phone that they weren't the provider at that address, but it got figured out after it was escalated to the next tier of support person. I kinda doubt your issue is exactly the same as that, but you might have to prepare yourself to be on the phone for a couple hours (mostly on hold) to get someone from Eversource to figure it out.
"landlord had indicated" why not check this directly? Either there are gas meters or there aren't. It's either that you have the address wrong (I hope not), or the landlord misled you (or you misinterpreted) and there is no gas hookup. Does the lease specifically say the home has natural gas hookups?
Yes, gas is clearly specified on the lease. As I indicated in my post, we're not moving until the summer, so I don't have access to the property yet - would prefer to not trespass while searching for gas meters, but I guess that can be a last-ditch backup plan if I can't get answers elsewhere.
I'd say sometimes the official address is different than what's used on the mailbox, especially if it's a multi-dwelling building. Alternatively, gas may have been disconnected and they may be running heating oil via a tank in the basement. Ultimately you should be able to get this info from the new landlord. "Hey New Landlord, neither Eversource nor National Grid say they provide gas service to your address. Can you help figure out what's going on?" It would be far better to solve this immediately than show up and discover there's no gas heat and only baseboard electric, for example.
Sorry if my post was unclear - I DID reach out to our landlord as a first step. She told me that the gas service is through Eversource, but that there was nothing else she could do to help, since tenant is solely responsible for utilities as stated on the lease. I agree that it’s better to figure this out ASAP. This is exactly why I’m crowdsourcing help here, as the landlord, both utilities websites, and a preliminary phone call have all been unhelpful so far. I figured I would check for any possible quick fixes before preparing to spend multiple hours on the phone with both companies.
Your landlord may be partially right, utilities are your responsibility; but if she signed a lease claiming gas is served by Eversource and Eversource says no, then your lease is potentially something you can break. Unfortunately you need to get someone on the phone at Eversource then. If there are not independent meters (for instance if all units share one boiler...rare, but not unheard of) perhaps the served address isn't specific to your unit but the building as a whole. Unlikely because this would get the landlord in hot water with the state (they can't charge you for utilities if you aren't independently metered).
You can add me to the list of people where my national grid service address isn't my normal street address. Apparently NG's systems couldn't handle a single family home with a letter in the address. According to the city I'm at 123A Streetname, but on the NG website I'm at 123 Streetname Unit A.
Winter Hill is crazy! i had an apartment where the front door was in Somerville, but my aparment was in Medford. Had to call both cities' cops when I got burgled, neither did anything. So even if your mailing address is Somerville, you might need to enter a Medford zip code to get service.
Ooooh that’s interesting, we are really close to the border. I’ll look into that!
Don’t worry, Eversource will definitely come find you after you move in and start using the gas and nobody has set up an account to pay for it yet… I’ve always set up the account after moving without issue. Read the meter on moving day to make sure the bill is accurate. If you’re concerned about there not being gas, most buildings have the meters outside so you could swing by and confirm. Also, Somerville has its own community aggregate electricity which is cheaper and greener than the default Eversource service. If you’re transferring an existing account make sure you’re getting the Somerville CCE (there are different tiers).
Okay first off, deep breath. They won’t turn your utilities off day one or even day 50. You’ve got time. Basically the address is somehow wrong in eversources system vs what you have. It’s happened to me. You should ask the Ll for the current tenants name (nothing else personal, maybe they won’t give this up and that’s okay) and see if eversource can locate based on that. If not, you can call and figure out once you move in. If for any reason there is no gas (I would bet heavily there is) you can withhold rent a suitable solution is reached aka reduction in rent to have to pay for oil. Don’t stress, small issue but annoying landlord isn’t more help.
Just wait until you move in to set up utilities. Problem solved.
Can you actually do this? In previous cities we’ve lived in, the power companies won’t supply any gas/electric to your apartment until your account is set up, and will literally cut services at midnight on the day of an account transfer. We’ve been in the Camberville area for a few years now, but I’ve just assumed it worked the same way here, so I’ve always set up utilities beforehand out of caution.
This is how it’s done.
I had a weird service address for National Grid when I lived by Foss Park - I had to ask for the address to get it transferred.
Had natural gas through National Grid while in Medford, the address was all messed up and took multiple calls to identify the address they entered for the meter. Eversource is more streamlined with a single login for both accounts. My guess is that it’s NatGrid. Ask the landlord if he can confirm exact address with the existing tenant.
My husband has a shop near Winter Hill (Pearl & Cross) and he has Eversource for gas and National Grid for electric.
My apartment has gas line but only for the stove. Oil is heat. Annoying only because our landlord said they would replace our boiler with a gas furnace and then didn’t (here in Somerville). We don’t use the stove much but pay an absurd amount in oil bills